The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again released an update and clarified on the use of old Naira notes in the country.

The apex bank made the clarification on Friday in a statement released by Hakama Sidi Ali (Mrs.), CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications.

The central bank in the statement reiterated that the Supreme Court ruling granted on November 29, 2023 on the concurrent circulation of all versions of the N1000, N500 and N200 notes subsists.

The statement reads: “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has observed the misinformation regarding the validity of the old N1000, N500, and N200 banknotes currently in circulation.

“In line with the Bank’s previous clarifications and to offer further assurance, the CBN wishes to reiterate that the subsisting Supreme Court ruling granted on November 29, 2023, permits the concurrent circulation of all versions of the N1000, #500, and N200 denominations of the Naira indefinitely.

“For the avoidance of doubt, all versions of the Naira, including the old and new designs of N1000, N500, and N200 denominations, as well as the commemorative and previous designs of the N100 denomination, remain valid and continue to be legal tender without any deadline”.

CBN advises the public to disregard any claims that the old series of the aforementioned banknotes will cease to be legal tender on December 31, 2024.

“We urge Nigerians to continue accepting all Naira banknotes (both old and redesigned) for their daily transactions and to handle them with care to ensure their longevity.

“Furthermore, the general public is encouraged to embrace alternative modes of payment, such as e channels, to reduce pressure on using physical cash,” the statement added.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has described as fake a circular that it authorised the sales of foreign exchange to Bureau De Change operators in the country.

The circular dated Tuesday, 10 December, had claimed that the apex bank sold $20,000 to each legible BDC operator at N1,300 per dollar rate.

“Following the ongoing reforms in the foreign exchange market, aimed at achieving an appropriate market-determined exchange rate for the Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has observed the continued price distortions at the retail end of the market, which is feeding into the parallel market and further widening the exchange rate premium,” the fake circular reads.

However, CBN, in its official X account on Wednesday, described the circular as fake.

This comes as the Naira has firmed up in the past seven days against the dollar at the FX market after CBN introduced the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) for transparent FX transactions.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to ensure efficient cash disbursement to the general public over-the-counter and through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

The directive is contained in a statement jointly signed by CBN’s Acting Director, Currency Operations, Muhammed Olayemi, and Acting Director, Branch Operations, Aisha Isa-Olatinwo.

The directive is coming in the midst of complaints of acute scarcity of cash by bank customers across the country.

The apex bank also urged members of the public who are unable to obtain cash, either over-the-counter or through ATMs to report such instances using designated reporting channels and formats.

“This will assist the CBN in addressing issues hindering the availablity of cash and further improve currency circulation.

“For DMB branches and ATM locations not dispensing cash, members of the public affected are to provide the relevant details,” it said .

It said that the required details should include account name, name of the DMB, amount, time, and date of incident.

It urged aggrieved bank customers to use dedicated phone numbers of the CBN branches in the state where the incident occurred or through to designated email addresses.

NAN